I know small/medium stream smallie fishing is winding down, but I finally had a free sunday to do whatever I pleased, so I hit the water. I hiked to a pretty productive stretch and was stunned at how clear the water was. Easily the clearest I have seen it this year. Fished a black bugger and had a couple chases, finally hooked into a foot long and landed it. Got another 11-12"er and came to a stretch that could be considered a "honey hole". The second time my brother and I fished this stretch this summer, we had 7 mins of excellent action. We each hooked up every cast into a 12-17" smallmouth. I only caught two fish out of the run, and neither was much to write home about, 10" and 5". What I spotted was almost enough to make me camp streamside, about 12+ smallmouth cruising the run ranging from 13-18". The biggest one was a monster for the size of this stream. The only time it showed any interest in eating was when I released the 5" smallmouth, little guy almost got whacked 3 separate times. Thankfully, he got away. Would have been nice to tie into one of the 15"+ fish, but it wasnt to be.

Cool. Pretty awesome to see a bass that size in a smaller creek. Looks like they're still hanging around for ya. The last two weekends on the Lehigh and Susky I've definitely found the fish less active and not in the same places they were this summer. Hopefully the decent weather holds out just a little bit longer...

I forgot to report back to Fishidiot and tell him all the bigger smallmouth have disappeared from that small trib I was talking about. fish in the 6-11" range were still present and numerous throughout, but the 12"+ guys were gone. They must have dropped back down into the main stream as he predicted.

I was really hoping I would be able to get out once more this season, but I just dont know if I will. Either way, pretty good year of small stream fishing for me. Fished some new stretches that are a total PITA to get to, but they were worth it. I have a list of new stretches I want to explore next year.